


In Shadowed Eyes

by Madrigal_in_training



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alive Bianca di Angelo, Aphrodite Helps, Aphrodite Ships It, Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), Cute Cinnamon Roll Nico di Angelo, Fluff and Humor, I Swear She Really Does, Lotus Hotel and Casino, M/M, Nico Feels, Nico is a Dork, Percy is a Dork, Percy's Not the Best Student, She's Percy's Mentor, Taught Him Everything He Knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:35:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madrigal_in_training/pseuds/Madrigal_in_training
Summary: Even the Gods can show sympathy, however unwelcome their blessings may be. When Aphrodite, a goddess born of sea and foam, grants a blessing to another child of the ocean, she irrevocably alters the prophecy. Because when Percy Jackson looks across the Lotus Hotel and Casino and meets the wide, dark eyes of a Son of Death, everything changes. Percy x Nico
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo & Nico di Angelo, Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 33
Kudos: 530





	1. Chapter 1

Aphrodite checked her reflection constantly.

This was less narcissistic than one would imagine. She was the Goddess of Love and Beauty, her every feature reminiscent of the viewer's true loved ones, romantic or not. Where one man might see golden blonde curls and baby blue eyes and another olive-toned skin and an arched brow, all would agree that her allure was peerless. She exuded charm and beauty regardless of her appearance and while that may be comforting in some manners, it was devastating in others.

The one infuriating aspect of her life that Aphrodite could never accept was that _she did not know her own face_. Her features were less binding than the waves, less distinct than the foam. Every time she faced a mirror, someone different would look back at her. The thick eyelashes of one daughter, the bronze tan of a former lover, and the lush painted lips of Hestia stared back at her today. Beautiful, yes, but alien and painful to be the mirror of everyone's identity other than your own.

Not that it was not useful. Aphrodite had a rule where if one man's features appeared in ten reflections, she would make him her lover. It was easy to understand your own heart when the mirror had it written out for you.

This was not the main reason that she would check her appearance though. She had some control over the features she could take and when she imagined a particular individual and evoked her power, another face would stare back at her. Through her domain, Aphrodite could discern the potential for love any two people would have, regardless of space and time, and possibly lend a hand to the lovers.

It was not something so trite as finding soulmates, no! The idea of one individual amongst billions being the ideal physical, mental, and emotional counterpart to you was horrifying; the likelihood of finding said individual depressing. There were gradients of potential though and some people were objectively better matched for one another than others. Even if they _did_ occasionally need her help.

The Goddess of Love was toying with the idea of lending a hand once again. She had no desire to be involved in this lightning thief business, of course, and she rather disliked war, however many tragic love stories it inspired. Nonetheless, there was a… sympathy in her for Perseus Jackson, a demigod that her own lover had scorned a day before. He was a child of the ocean much like herself and a potential candidate for a prophecy that made many of the Olympians nervous.

Aphrodite considered the implications of intervening in that one prophecy. It's not like the other Olympians were being very proactive about the matter; preferring to either ignore it or insist that each possible candidate be killed. (One demigod would undoubtedly slip by and where would they be then?) No one would expect her to take a stance. Her work would be done before they noticed her meddling.

Aphrodite knew the others considered her to be amongst the weakest and least influential of the gods. Perhaps that was true from a purely martial point of view, but love had a power of its own. It was _why_ demigods fought; why heroes risked their lives to fulfill their goals. Love made Odysseus sail the seas for a decade's time to return to Ithaca. Love made Daedalus jump out of the tower, Ariadne betray her father, and Hercules beg for repentance. It was a husband's love that brought Menelaus to Troy and a brother's love that brought Agamemnon there. It was a mother's love that gave Achilles his impenetrable defense and love that inspired so many other heroes.

Love could be tragic, painful, and devastating but it could also bring strength, hope, and faith. It was the bonds that heroes made with one another that would give them the support they needed to complete their quests. Otherwise, they tended to take too much on themselves and falter under their burdens. Uncle Poseidon's son seemed very much to be an archetypal hero.

' _Thrown into a new world without any guidance and placed into a controversy due to the dangers that he could_ possibly _cause from attributes that he never asked for,'_ Aphrodite thought dryly. Now didn't _that_ sound familiar?

Her mind made, the Goddess of Love gracefully glided to an ornate silver mirror on her vanity table. Picking up a pink pearl comb, she gently ran it through her current brown ringlets, each curl shifting to the black of a raven's wing. Her face rounded with youth, a mischievous quirk of her lips and sharply furrowed brows. Dominating her face were breathtaking sea green eyes that shifted between blue and green as the light hit it.

A shadowy appearance formed in the mirror. A shock of bright red hair appeared and faded just as quickly. Pale skin lit by the moonlight and brown eyes melted back. There was familiar stormy grey and dark blonde that Aphrodite thought would be the end. Then this too rippled back into a blur. The Goddess of Love merely sat by patiently.

The final image froze on the mirror, static and complete. Aphrodite's lips lifted into a smile.

' _Terrible fashion sense but that face is simply too adorable! Not to mention the tumultuous love story those two will have,'_ Aphrodite giggled. She raised her hand and decisively clicked her fingers. Far below her, in the mortal realm, a hazy pink light swept through the skin of a tired boy sleeping in an animal truck. ' _You're welcome Perseus Jackson.'_

x

If Percy Jackson knew that he was the sudden recipient of a blessing from the Goddess of Love, than his first thought would not have been to thank her. Actually, none of his thoughts would have been to thank her as he would have been emphatically trying to convince her to stop 'helping' him. He may have even gone so far as to actively insult her to remove said blessing because the last thing Percy wanted was yet another aspect of his controlled by the Gods. He was twelve years old and had just lost his mother! How was he supposed to even _think_ about romance at a time like that?

This is merely conjecture though as Percy Jackson did not know about the blessing. He didn't even notice that anything was different about himself (though it he bothered to look closely, he would find that his skin was cleaner than before and he had stopped smelling like zebra). The Son of Poseidon was too busy staring at the grandeur of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"Ah, a party of three!" The receptionist greeted them with a wide smile, as though they were royalty rather than a group of vagabond demigods, "I have your cards right here."

"C-cards?" Grover asked nervously, eyeing the sleek rectangle of silver, "But we don't have any money…"

"No problem," the man persisted, "Everything's already been paid for. Fifth floor, first suite!"

"Er, yeah, thanks!" Percy quickly snatched the card away, "We'll go up there then."

"Feel free to eat from the complimentary food bar," the receptionist added, "And don't spend too much time there! There are fifteen new installations in our arcade now!"

"Why did you say 'yes' Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth hissed, once they had moved out of hearing, "We don't have any money to pay for this."

"We need somewhere to rest," the dark-haired boy argued, "Let's fit shower, dinner, and sleep in first and then we can leave."

Any complaints the demigods may have had were stopped once Grover opened their suite. The room Percy entered was positively palatial, bigger than his apartment, and with a bed dominated by almost ridiculously plush pillows. There were three bedrooms following color themes of blue (Percy), green (Grover), and red (Annabeth, begrudgingly) and a bathroom big enough to hold its own sauna. TVs were mounted on the walls, alongside computers and the latest video games, and there was a fully stocked fridge in the attached kitchenette. There was even a living room with a wall-to-wall aquarium.

"I call the first shower!" Annabeth squealed, once she saw that the closets were filled with clothes that perfectly fit their size.

"Lays potato chips!" Grover headed directly to the kitchen.

Percy was about to head towards the video games when he stumbled over the thick carpeting. ' _There are better games at the arcade._ ' The receptionist did say something about new installations, didn't he? ' _I can get something to eat there too._ ' Grover didn't look like he was going to share those chips and besides Percy wanted something more filling to eat. ' _My shirt is ripped._ ' He should change then.

Once his torn orange Camp Half-Blood shirt had been replaced with a dark blue polo- not normally to his taste but he found it strangely appealing now- Percy headed out the door. The rest of the hotel was as amazing as his room and there was a glass elevator to take him down to the arcade floor. When he reached it, his feet moved past the first person shooter games he normally preferred to a quieter area of the room. There weren't many people around.

' _What are these? Card games?'_ Percy looked around, puzzled. ' _I haven't seen any of these before. They look boring. And you need more than one person to play._ '

There was something inside of him that urged him forward though. He had tried so many new things in this quest. What was one more? Besides that kid over there looked like he was having fun. Maybe two years younger than him, with shaggy black hair hanging down and pale olive skin from the back of his arms. The kid was facing away from him and appeared to be intently studying something on the table. He looked almost too focused for Percy to interrupt him.

' _Maybe he could teach me to play.'_ The voice whispered again, a breathless sort of whisper that slipped out of the demigod's grasp whenever he tried to focus on it. Yes, that kid looked like he knew how to play those games. Maybe he would show Percy.

The dark-haired Son of Poseidon tentatively stepped forward and raised his hand. He placed it on the boy's shoulder, unknowingly causing a feeling like static electricity brushing over the kid's neck.

The boy jerked around in surprise. His hand fell off the shoulder. Wide dark eyes stared back at him. And the Son of Poseidon's entire axis shifted. "Hey, I'm Percy."

x


	2. Dionysus Swallows My Hellhound

"Nico di Angelo," the boy replied automatically, but then his eyes widened even more. He looked like a small, scruffy owl. "But I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

"Can you play card games with them?" Percy asked, gesturing to the colorful figures littering the table. One symbol in particular caught his eye. "Is that a trident?"

"I don't think I'm su- oh! Yeah, this is Poseidon!" The easily distracted boy pushed an image of a muscular, tanned man with a long white beard in his direction. "He's the God of the Ocean. He has 1400 attack points, which is the smaller than Hades and Zeus, but his defense points double when you activate a water-based area card. And he gets an extra critical hit point for every nereid in the field."

"I like him," Percy said, studying the figurine that accompanied the card. There was something more relaxed about this image than the one beside it, of a grim man wielding a lightning bolt. "Did you know that he's also the father of horses? Does he get any extra points for that?"

"Mythomagic didn't mention that," Nico complained, looking almost personally offended by the game's lack. "Er, do you want to play with me?"

The Son of Poseidon studied the younger boy silently. He was still feeling hungry and tired but there was something about the hopeful look in those eyes that tugged at his heartstrings. "Sure," he found himself saying, "Teach me how to play."

Nico was promptly off telling him about a fairly complex card game that apparently involved every Olympian ("But you need to sacrifice double the divine points to call them"), monster ("You can't have them fight together so I mostly use them for ritual sacrifices"), and artifact ("My favorite is the Golden Fleece because it gives you back one-fifth of your health every round"). There was a lot of battleground positioning too, since certain cards could only move in certain positions, like Poseidon being limited to seven square spaces around any ocean-area card. It involved more critical-thinking than Percy liked when he was relaxing but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be either.

' _This kid's a complete geek,'_ Percy thought, not unkindly as the scruffy-haired boy jumped from one quick explanation of an obscure deity to another. He was the demigod here but Nico had just taught him five new things about Greek mythology. "So can I attack you with my Hellhound card now?"

"Nope!" Nico grinned at him, turning one over, "I have the Shield of Aegis, which scares all monster Level 10 and weaker away."

At Percy's clear confusion, he elaborated, "The Shield of Aegis was a gift from Athena to the hero Perseus to defeat Medusa. She was a freaky monster with snake hair that could turn anyone that looked at her into stone, so he used the shield as a mirror to reflect her powers back to her. Later Athena asked for Medusa's head and attached it to the shield to make an even scarier weapon."

' _So my namesake beat Medusa too then.'_

Since Percy had never played the game before (and was more interested in listening to Nico's impromptu lectures instead), he was soundly defeated by the younger boy. Within a few rounds, the Son of Poseidon's forces were being slaughtered from every direction as General Nico mercilessly chirped his way to victory. The dark-eyed boy even rubbed his hands together evilly a few times, to which his opponent kindly ducked his head and did not laugh.

Finally Percy's sole remaining soldier- the lonely Hellhound from before- was swallowed up by a power-boosted Dionysus and the Son of Poseidon was rethinking his antagonistic attitude to Mr. D.

"Want to play another round?" Nico was almost bouncing on his seat at this point, and Percy, still operating on the owl resemblance, almost thought he would start flying up into the ceiling.

"I'm actually kind of hungry now," Percy's stomach grumbled its agreement. Seeing the boy's face fall, he added. "Do you know any good places to eat here?"

It immediately brightened again. "There's a good Italian restaurant on the third floor. My sister and I eat there all the time."

"You have a sister?" Percy asked, helping him gather the cards.

"Yeah, Bianca's older than me by two years," Nico had apparently gotten over his wariness of strangers. "She wanted to stay in the room and watch some silly telenovela today."

Percy was about to ask about his parents when the boy grabbed his hand and the thought flitted away. There was the momentary hint of static again but Nico's enthusiasm overshadowed it as he tugged the older boy out of his seat. The deck of cards and box of figurines were tucked into the boy's oversized sweatshirt pockets- _Go Washington Wizards!_ \- before they started walking.

Nico's hand was icy cold and Percy found himself wrapping his fingers more tightly around them to warm them. The younger boy moved through the hotel like he had lived here his entire life, which probably meant that his parents were loaded. He wasn't much like the other rich kids that Percy had met though; he couldn't imagine Nancy Bobofit going out of her way to help anyone after all.

"This is the restaurant," Nico declared quite unnecessarily, looking over for a response. Unsure, Percy smiled awkwardly back and received a wide grin. "Do you like pasta? It's my favorite."

"I like blue waffles." The waiters were scarily efficient here, immediately sweeping them off to their tables. Percy didn't bother to pick up the menu when he asked for whatever the other boy ordered.

"Oh?" Nico considered that and responded definitively. "That's weird."

"Blue's my favorite color. I try to eat as many blue foods as I can," Percy explained, taking a bite of the spiced ravioli. "Other people think it's weird too."

"Weird's not a bad thing," the other boy said earnestly, "I think your weirdness is cool."

"Thanks, I think," Percy replied, laughing. It suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time in the week that he could relax and just chat with someone. Sure, Grover was his best friend and Annabeth was definitely cool, but they had the stress of the quest hanging over them too.

' _The quest. I have to finish the quest,_ ' Percy remembered, attention drifting from Nico's stories of his other Mythomagic strategies, ' _I can stay here for a little longer, can't I? A small break? It's not like I'll get to talk to Nico again when I have to leave._ ' He stabbed his fork a little harder into the next piece. Great, now he could count his friends off of one hand again.

"Percy, you're not listening to me," Nico whined, drawing him out of thoughts.

"Sorry. Just distracted by stuff," he tried to smile, "Are you sure that you should be sharing all of your strategies with me?"

"I can always make new ones," the boy responded, happy to have his attention again, "Want to meet my sister?"

"Why not?" He paid attention to the rest of the conversation. Nico shared information about himself freely and Percy soon learned that he loved naps, spoke Italian fluently, wore black clothes since he used to be a messy eater as a kid, and wanted to be a diplomat when he grew up. The older boy noticed a brief pause when Nico was going to say ' _like my…'_ and looked confused instead.

Nico was also a curious kid and peppered questions about him in-between his own words. Between the good food, surprisingly nice company, and an odd feeling of peace, Percy answered. He shared that he loved to swim, couldn't speak any foreign languages ("But I guess I can be a horse whisperer"), wore blue often, and didn't have any career goals.

"I'm here with my friends. Maybe after I meet your sister, you can meet them?"

Grover would like him. Nico thought Pan's nature affinity made him one of the most underrated cards in the game. Annabeth would like him too. They could lecture Percy about Greek myths together.

The younger boy was eager enough to meet his friends that he insisted they leave immediately after eating, not even bothering to try their dessert. It was some type of ice cream with pink lotus flowers dotting it and while it looked appetizing, Percy fell victim to the wide, owlish begging stare again. With some regret, he followed the other boy out of the restaurant.

Nico's apartment suite was on the seventh floor and the exact same setup as the one in his except for one minor detail. There was a surprised twelve-year-old girl curled up in front of a TV where one woman in a cocktail dress just threw a glass of wine at another woman. The resemblance between Bianca and her brother was obvious- pale olive skin, ash-toned eyes, high cheekbones, dark hair- but she didn't have the same perpetually surprised owlish look Nico sported. She was also dressed in an old-fashioned beige skirt and brown coat, a dark green cap the only spot of color present.

"Nico, who's this?" Bianca kept her eyes trained on him as she walked towards her brother.

"This is Percy. We played Mythomagic together," Nico responded, not bothering to release his hand as he brought him into the apartment. "Percy, this is my older sister, Bianca."

"Nice to meet you," Percy used his left hand to wave.

"Er, you too," Bianca said uncertainly, still looking upset, "Nico, you know that you shouldn't talk to-"

"Percy's not a stranger! He introduced himself first and then we had dinner at the Italian place. It was in public, so everything was safe."

"Still, I don't want you do it again," his older sister scolded. "But I'm glad you found someone to play your card game with. Thanks for playing with my brother, Percy."

"You don't have to thank me. I had fun," Percy told her. "Hey, my room has an aquarium too. But it doesn't have any fish in it."

"You're supposed to fill it with fish that you win at some of the games," Nico explained. He led them to have a closer look and started pointing out the different fishes present there. One of his demigod powers made itself present then as the names popped into his head.

"Dwarf angelfish, damselfish, triggerfish," Percy murmured, pointing to one thin, colorful reed-thin fish, "Pipefish. That one's pretty rare."

"You know a lot about them," Bianca commented.

"I guess," he shrugged. The fish seemed to be drawn to his presence as over a dozen brightly coloured aquatic life swam over to their tiny corner of the room. Pressing against the glass, it was almost like they were whispering to him.

"They really like you, Percy," Nico enthused.

" _King Poseidon's son! King Poseidon's son!_ " No, they actually were whispering to him.

' _Well if I can do it with horses, then why should fish be any different?_ ' Percy wondered. He really didn't want to use his demigod abilities in front of Nico or his sister, so he tried to beg with his eyes for the fish to stop acting so weird.

' _You must flee from here, my Lord,'_ a pufferfish implored.

' _A trap! This hotel is a trap,'_ the pipefish warned.

' _Flee from the Lotus Eaters, my Lord, before your memories are taken from you!'_ the damselfish cried.

' _Flee! Flee!'_ the fish chanted, ' _Flee the Lotus Hotel, young Lord!'_

"Why are they hitting the glass?" Bianca worried, "Won't that hurt them?"

The Son of Poseidon couldn't respond, the fishes' warning suddenly reverberating in his head. This hotel had seemed better than their wildest dreams and apparently was. Dammit, they should have been wary of this when they got free cards for no reason!

"Nico, do you know any Greek myths about the Lotus Eaters?"

"Sure. They tried to distract Odysseus from his sea trip by giving him lotus blossoms to make him forget about his home. Why?"

"Just had a thought," Percy said, a sudden urgency filling him. Thank Poseidon that Nico had distracted him from those lotus blossoms. "I want you and Bianca to meet my friends now. Are you staying with anyone else here?"

' _Should I really bring two normal kids with me on a quest?'_ Percy fleetingly wondered. He didn't even bother to think about it. He knew they might be a hindrance but he couldn't leave Nico or his sister inside a trap!

"No, Bianca and I live alone," Nico responded. "Why are you moving so quickly?"

It was the younger boy's chance to be dragged out now as Percy refused to let go of his hand until they were out of immediate danger. (How else could he protect Nico?)

"Don't want to miss them before they hit the arcade," he spouted off the first thing that came to his head. ' _The Mist disguises any demigod weapons to mortal eyes, right?'_

The Son of Poseidon withdrew Riptide for additional protection and uncapped it with one fluid motion. He really hoped that Nico and Bianca didn't suddenly see a shotgun or something in his hand.

"Whoa! Your pen just _turned into a sword!_ " Nico's excited shout almost sent Percy (and him, by linked hands) tumbling to the floor. "That's so cool!"

"Where did you get that from?" Bianca practically shrieked, stumbling back from him, "Nico, move!"

His brother looked between Percy standing open-mouthed with a bronze sword on his hand, his terrified sister, and the hand that still gripped his own. "I don't think he's going to hurt us Bianca."

" _He has a sword!"_ Bianca looked utterly disbelieving.

" _You can see it?"_ His expression probably mirrored hers.

"Yes, of course I can see it," she pointed at Riptide, "It's a sharp, pointed, metal sword. I'm not blind!"

' _I should tell them about being a demigod,'_ the soft breath of the whisper chimed back in his head. It had mostly left him alone once he started talking to Nico but Percy grasped at the support now.

"Do either of you have trouble reading or concentrating?" Percy questioned. Annabeth had mentioned that every demigod had trouble with ADHD and dyslexia.

Bianca's demand of why he wanted to know was undercut by Nico's immediate nod. The older girl shot his brother a warning look, which he further ignored by asking to hold Percy's pen/sword.

"Okay, this is going to sound weird, but I need to know when you guys entered this hotel," Percy said, quickly scanning the floor. The hallways were clear but too narrow for him to wield Riptide properly. Ignoring Bianca's worried demands to let her little brother go, he urged them towards the stairs.

"Er, just a few weeks ago, I think," Nico let himself be tugged along, "You're not going to hurt us, are you Percy?" He didn't sound like he believed it but the Son of Poseidon still swiftly answered 'no'. Nico looked at Bianca then, as if to say 'told you so'.

"What was the year?" Scanning the stairway showed more maneuverability and a better way to get downstairs without being trapped in an elevator.

"1937," Nico answered, matter-of-fact.

At this point, Bianca put her foot down. "That's it! We're not going any further with you until you tell us what's going on!"

"Here. Take the weapon and I'll be unarmed," Percy said, holding Riptide out to her. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you _or_ Nico. My name is Percy Jackson and all I want is to get you out of this hotel. It's staffed by the Lotus Eaters."

"From the Greek myths?" Bianca scoffed but warily accepted the weapon. She looked pointedly at Percy and Nico's entwined hands and the latter guiltily tried to hide it behind his sweatshirt. "None of that is real. You're insane."

"Turn the handle of my sword." She did so and gaped as a pen suddenly appeared in her hand. "The Greek myths exist. You just used one of the magical properties of Riptide."

"That must have been a trick," her voice trembled. He could see the doubt in her eyes.

"Can you remember anything before you came to this hotel?" Percy pressed.

"I- No," she admitted, her face twisting in pain. Bianca raised one hand to her forehead, as though suddenly struck by a headache. This moved Nico to release Percy's hand, rushing to his sister's side, and caused the Son of Poseidon to feel a brief surge of irritation. "I can't remember anything."

"The lotus flowers took it from you," Percy said swiftly, "Please, my friends are still trapped up there. We have to get them and get out of this place."

"We should go with him, Bianca," Nico urged, excitement filling his eyes, "Percy's like an honest-to-life hero! He has a magic sword!"

"This isn't like one of your Mythomagic games, Nico," his sister retorted, "This sounds dangerous."

"It is," the Son of Poseidon felt some remorse over destroying Nico's naive view of the Greek world, "I'm sorry Bianca, but I don't have any time to argue now. I need to find my friends."

With one last, lingering look at the dark eyes of Nico di Angelo, Percy turned and started to jog down the stairs. He took them two at a time, ignoring the fact that Riptide was still in Bianca's slack grip. It would return to his pocket soon. He needed to get to his friends before Grover moves from potato chips to pink blossoms.

' _I'll be back for them when the quest is over,'_ he promised fiercely, ' _I need to stop this war but I won't leave Nico behind.'_ Percy couldn't hold back his relief when he heard two sets of footsteps behind him.

"Wait for us!" Nico called. Bianca passed the pen over when they reached the fourth floor and then the three demigods (one anxious, one terrified, and one looking at Percy like he was the greatest thing since Mythomagic) headed towards the first suite. The Son of Poseidon swiped the door open and entered the room, half-expecting an enemy.

"Hey Percy," Grover waved from the kitchen counter. There was a box of take-out next to it. "Annabeth and I ordered dinner without you. Hope you don't mind."

"Seaweed Brain? Who are they?" Annabeth blinked, running a towel through her sodden curls.

"Don't eat anything," the dark-haired boy ordered, pushing the two other demigods in and closing the door, "This is Bianca and Nico di Angelo. They're two demigods that I found here. The fish in their apartment told me that we're in the Lotus Eaters traps. We need to leave immediately."

"The _fish_ told you," Bianca bemoaned, shoving her face in her hands.

"You can _talk_ to fish?" Nico said at the same time, with an entirely different tone.

"The Lotus Eaters?" Annabeth paled and scrambled to get their backpack. "Right. We need to go. Grover, have you got your reed pipes?"

"Yeah," his friend said through a shocked bleat, "Just need to find my shoes!"

"He has hooves!" Nico noted with evident delight. His sister groaned even louder.

It didn't take very long for them to pack up after that and Percy led the charge down the stairs. They had reached the ground floor and were almost to the golden doors when the receptionist appeared. He skidded to a stop in front of the eerily smiling man.

"Leaving so soon?" Percy wondered how he didn't notice the subtle threat behind that cheerful tone before. "I hope not! We've upgraded you to platinum membership now."

The Son of Poseidon uncapped Riptide again. "Get out of our way!"

The man stumbled back in fear, dropping the platinum cards. Nico crouched down to swipe three of them before his sister grabbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt and dragged him up. The group of four demigods and one satyr stumbled out of the door, the harsh sunlight of the morning at total odds with the time of day from a few hours past.

' _How long have we been in there for?'_ Percy looked over at Nico, who was staring at the glittering lights and gaudy displays of Los Angeles with surprise. ' _How long have they been in there for?'_

"Okay, we followed you out," Bianca stated, folding her arms and staring at Percy with determined, "Now my brother and I deserve some answers!"

x


	3. Nico Becomes An Instant Infinity-Are

Bianca's bottom lip was trembling when she made her demand, so Nico knew that his sister was on the brink of either breaking down into frustrated tears or punching out their new friends. Maybe Percy could sense the same because he quickly moved to reassure her.

"I'll answer everything you want me to," the green-eyed boy answered, eyes still scanning the bright but almost empty street. "But we need to move to somewhere more secure."

"We need to figure out how long we were in there too." The blonde- Annabeth- added, drifting towards the side of the group. Nico briefly wondered why before it occurred to him that this was one of the basic defense strategies in Mythomagic. He had been pushed into the middle with Bianca, so the others could intercept all attacks first, and Annabeth took the best position to cover Percy's back. She must not have the reach to be point then.

The dark-eyed boy internally pouted at being considered weak but stayed beside his sister anyways.

As the group moved down the street in search of a newsstand, Nico stared at their surroundings with unabashed amazement. His head could have fallen off his neck by how quickly it moved around; everything was so bright and colorful! Signs advertising products he had never heard of, buildings so tall they seemed to scrape by clouds, sleek, unfamiliar cars filling the road… It hadn't been like this before, had it?

Nico's head hurt when he tried to remember what the street previously looked like, so he abandoned those thoughts. It was barely enough to keep up with everything he was seeing now. The itch to run and explore was nearly irresistible to the young demigod. Maybe Percy could sense that too because his hand somehow found itself in the older boy's grasp again. Nico didn't bother to extract it; Bianca used to hold his hand too when they walking outside to keep him from running off.

They eventually found a newspaper stand available. "It's only been two days," Annabeth said, to two sighs of relief, "We have three more left."

"To do what?" Nico piped up. He didn't see the confused looks shared between Annabeth and Grover (a satyr!) when Percy answered him.

"My friends and I are on a quest to the Underworld. We have to… find something for someone."

 _'The Underworld? Like where Hades is?'_ Nico bounced on the balls of his feet. "That's so awesome! Can I go with you? I don't have a Hades figurine yet but his card is my favorite! He has the highest attack points of his brothers and if he's wearing his Helmet of Invisibility, then no one can attack him for three turns. I wonder if he'll look like his card form?"

The boy almost fist-pumped the air when another thought occurred to him. "Hey, do you think he'll autograph my card if I asked him to?"

"First, _you're_ not going into the Underworld with us," Annabeth said sternly, ignoring Grover's exclamation of _'Di Immortales, he wants to go?_!', "You're not ready to meet the God of the Dead and hopefully you'll never have to. Second, if you ever _are_ unlucky enough to meet him, don't ask for autographs."

Nico would have argued this if Percy hadn't beaten him to it.

"What are we going to do with them then? We can't leave them here alone. L.A. is supposed to be filled with monsters!"

"We can't bring deadweight with us into the Underworld either," Annabeth argued. "What would they do if we got attacked?"

"Then they would have us to defend them," Percy retorted, "What if they get attacked _here?_ "

"I'm not saying we should abandon them without weapons or shelter," the blonde snapped.

"Okay, let's have a time out here!" Bianca interrupted, forming the T-shape with her hands. "Not that I don't appreciate you talking about us like we're not even here, but Nico and I can make our own decisions. You promised answers when we got to somewhere safer. How about that cafe?"

They decided to follow his sister's suggestion and entered a white, blocky shaped building with shiny barstools and red vinyl seats. Since none of them felt hungry, Annabeth merely ordered several pop drinks with a familiar red and white logo and they took a seat in one of the back booths. Grover and Annabeth ended up on one side while Nico sat between Percy and Bianca on the other.

As they waited for the drinks to arrive and his sister took hesitant, fleeting glances outside- Bianca looked even more unnerved by the different cars than Percy's sword- Nico studied his friend. They had dropped a lot of new terminology today but the one that stuck out in his head was _demigod_. An in half-mortal and _half-god_. The younger boy really wanted to know which one Percy was related to.

It was the sea-green eyes that clinched it. Also their card game, the talking fish, the sword's name, and Annabeth's nickname for him. "Are you the Son of Poseidon?"

"Yeah, I am." A startled but pleased smile crossed the older boy's face. "What gave it away?"

"You said it was your favorite," Nico told him, "Do you have any other cool powers?"

"A few. I have some control over water and I can talk to horses. I can also breathe underwater."

"Does being a Son of Poseidon make you a great surfer?"

"No clue. I'll have to try surfing sometime to find out."

"Do all of the fish and horses have to do everything you say?"

"Well, they don't _have_ to do anything but they've been very helpful to me so far."

"Does you magical sword-pen ever run out of ink?"

"Jeez, Nico. I never tried to write with it. Why don't you find out?" Percy handed the grey pen over. The dark-eyed boy promptly stole a few napkins from the table dispenser and found out that rich blue-black ink _did_ make a mark there. Nothing obviously magical though.

His fun was cut short when the blonde girl snatched the pen from his hand and returned it back to Percy with a pointed look. Nico scowled. He was quickly revising his former opinion of her.

"Alright, so he's a Son of Poseidon. The Olympian. Poseidon," Bianca muttered. Her arm brushed against his, a silent reminder from his scared older sister that they would be able to get through this together. Nico tried to give her a reassuring smile. Percy would keep them safe, Nico just knew it. "And you guys are?"

"I'm Grover Underwood," the curly-haired boy with the wispy little beard said. "I'm a satyr."

"And I'm Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena," the blonde stated, lifting her chin up a bit.

"I see," his sister said slowly, "And you two are on a… quest together? But I thought Athena and Poseidon hated each other."

 _'I knew playing all those games of Mythomagic was going to be useful someday!'_ Nico thought.

It was Percy and Annabeth's turn to exchange looks. "Er, we're working on it," he said, grinning.

An ugly emotion rose in Nico's chest when the blonde responded to the boy's grin with a shy smile of her own. "What about Bianca and me? Do you know who our godly parent is?"

"We haven't figured out yet but we do know that you're not mortal," Annabeth answered.

"Because we could see Percy's sword?" Bianca deduced, her dark eyes cautiously assessing the others. "There's something hiding the monsters and magic from normal people's eyes."

"And you couldn't figure out that we were demigods before we saw the sword," Nico pointed out. "So demigods don't look any different from normal kids."

"Not any different to _them_. They were afraid that monsters were going to attack us and to do that, they need some way to find us first."

"A lot of monsters in Greek myths had great noses, so maybe they have to sniff us out? Do I smell?"

"You had a bath last night, so I smell strawberries," Bianca said, pressing her nose against the messy hair of the younger boy, "Are you using my shampoo again?"

The dark-eyed boy shifted guiltily in his seat. "No?"

The back-and-forth between the two siblings was watched with fascination by the others present. Grover stopped them from escalating into a fight. "So, any questions you want _us_ to answer?"

"Maybe you can share the basics with us first before we ask any questions," Bianca suggested sweetly. Nico tried not to snicker into his Coke. His sister had pulled that trick often enough on him to get as much information as she could.

The explanation from Annabeth and Grover, with some input from Percy, was woefully inadequate. It covered Camp Half-blood, celestial bronze, monster names, demigod dangers, and the quest the trio were on, though they were given a vague answer of finding some lost artifact in the Underworld. The look on Bianca's face meant that there would be a lot of research in his future.

Nico didn't mind. His sister didn't show it as often as he did but both di Angelo siblings were nerds.

"I see," Bianca stated softly, when they were done. "I have one question then. Is there anywhere safe that you can take Nico and I to?"

The dark-eyed boy looked at his sister in betrayal. No! He didn't want to hide with Bianca! He wanted to see the Underworld with Percy!

"No. Sorry," Grover said mournfully. Bianca's lips pressed down to a frown. Nico beamed.

"Do you have any weapons for us then?" The younger boy pressed. _'I want a sword just like Percy's.'_

"Er, no. None of those either," Annabeth replied.

"Then we'll be going with you," the dark-eyed girl declared. Nico merely sat and drank his Coke while his sister calmly refuted any arguments and reiterated that they _would_ be following the kid with the monster-killing sword in his hands. Of the questing trio, it was Percy that didn't try to dissuade them.

When the drinks were done, Annabeth hailed a cab and used her Lotus Hotel card for payment. The meter spun around to the infinity symbol, the driver called the blonde a princess, and Nico watched in disbelief as the Daughter of Athena traded an infinite credit card for a cab ride.

As the taxi driver floored it to Santa Monica Beach, his sister leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"How many?"

"Three," Nico whispered back.

"Good. Keep them."

"Obviously."

x


	4. Electrocuted Demigods Drown In Bathtubs

"But you've only given me three," Percy protested, staring at the softly glowing pearls in his hand.

"Three pearls for three quest members," the Nereid explained. Upon seeing the stubborn look on the Son of Poseidon's face, she made her tone more comforting. "Peace, young one. Your new companions shall find other routes to leave Lord Hades realm. They will come to no harm there."

'But what about Mom?' Percy's eyes narrowed at her words. "What do you mean? How will Bianca and Nico escape?"

"I cannot answer that," the beautiful ocean spirit frowned. "This is not what Lord Poseidon had expected. His brother shows his hand too early. This could not have been planned."

And with those cryptic words ringing in Percy's head, the woman curtsied, the mako shark returned, and the green-eyed boy was summarily rejected from his father's domain. As he waded back to shore, the pearls clutched firmly in hand, he wondered what the Nereid could have meant. Which God was showing his hand too early? Why would Nico and Bianca be safe in the Underworld?

'Maybe for the same reason that I'm safe in the sea?' Percy realized win a shudder. No, that couldn't be right. There couldn't be another two children of the Big Three running around.

Especially not children of _this_ particular God. The Son of Poseidon hadn't heard any good things about Lord Hades from the other campers. He himself didn't really like the God much since Hades kidnapped his mother from him. Not to mention how odd it was to relate an owlish Nico or his more cautious older sister with the Lord of the Underworld. Still Percy's instincts (which had somehow adopted a breathless, almost flirty, feminine whisper) were telling him that his hunch was correct and furthermore, he should keep it to himself. None of the other campers would accept children of the dead and he didn't want his friends to be unfairly prejudiced against.

' _Annabeth and Grover would hate him more than most,'_ Percy recalled. His friends had been chased by the God of the Dead's monster army when they were trying to flee to the safety of Camp Half-blood. While they had reached the borders in the end, it took the sacrifice of Thalia Grace, half-blood Daughter of Zeus, for them to do it.

"Look! There he is! With a _shark!_ " The dark-eyed boy's glee was evident when Percy landed on sand. "Did you get to meet your dad Percy?"

"He sent a Nereid." The Son of Poseidon tried to hide his hurt over that snub. "But he wants us to go to the Underworld. She said that we should head to the DOA Recording Studios in lower L.A."

"If that's what your dad wants, then that's what we have to do," Grover said, resigned. "Why couldn't any of the gods send us to Maine and order us to get sunburn at the beach or something?"

As they trudged back to the boardwalk, Percy snuck another puzzled glance at Nico. The younger boy was explaining what a Nereid was to his sister and his oversized sweatshirt, mussy hair, and wide, dark eyes made him look like even less of an evil demigod son of death than Grover. He was drawn out of his thoughts when Annabeth fell into step beside him.

"We need to talk Seaweed Brain," she announced, peeking back to the di Angelo siblings, "Are you sure we should bring them to the Underworld with us?"

"We can't leave them here alone and they'll follow us down anyway," Percy reminded her. Bianca had made that fairly clear to them.

"I know but I don't feel right dragging two untrained kids down there with us," Annabeth gave him a weary look. "Also, I need to ask you about the younger one."

"Nico? Why?" The Son of Poseidon tried to hide his nerves. He knew that Annabeth was smart but had she figured out the boy's parentage already?

"You're acting weird around him," the blonde said bluntly, counting off her fingers, "Holding hands. Answering questions. Sharing Riptide."

"I'm just trying to be friendly."

"Hmm," she appeared unconvinced. "How did you two meet?"

"We played Mythomagic in the arcade," Percy answered. He felt oddly defensive at her questioning. "What are you trying to say? That Nico did something to me?"

"You saw an arcade full of loud machines and chose a strategy-based card game Seaweed Brain. Does that seem like something you would do?"

"Maybe I wanted to try something new. Gods, Nico didn't even know he was a demigod until I told him. And you think he used some divine power on me?"

"I'm not saying that it was intentional," Annabeth soothed, "But there's a Daughter of Aphrodite at camp that can use _charmspeak_ , a power that mesmerizes people into doing what she says."

' _Then I should be fine because he's not a Son of Aphrodite_.' Percy fell back so he wouldn't have to continue this fight. He didn't think that Nico would try to magically control him- at least not intentionally- but the doubt was now there. How much did he really know about the di Angelo siblings?

One of whom was walking up to him now. "Hello Percy."

"Hey Bianca," Percy greeted. The pretty, dark-eyed Italian had been less friendly to him than her brother but she still trusted him to keep them safe in the Underworld.

"Were you having a fight with your girlfriend?" Bianca inquired, a teasing smile on her face.

"Huh?" Did she think that he was dating Annabeth? "No! No, she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends."

As the Son of Poseidon attempted to quickly dispel the idea, while not looking into the eyes of a curious blonde, he missed Bianca shooting a thumbs-up to her brother. He did look up in time to see a red-faced Nico punch her though.

"Are you two fighting?"

"No," Bianca answered.

"Yes," Nico said at the same time. "How did you learn that you were a demigod Percy?"

This initiated a quick storytime about Yancy Academy, Nancy Bobofit, and Mrs. Dodds, the world's worst pre-algebra teacher. The dark-eyed boy appeared riveted throughout the short adventure but he could see Bianca frown once or twice. Then the girl requested a story about how he went to Camp Half-Blood and before they knew it, the demigods were telling the siblings about the quest so far. Grover had been complaining about Ares tricking them into Hephaestus' trap when they were stopped by a gang of mortal teens.

Percy immediately uncapped Riptide but the reflexive swing forward only elicited jeers and taunts. He had just remembered that celestial bronze didn't work on mortals when Bianca stepped forward and kicked one of them. Then Annabeth judo flipped the other and punched out a third, who had just been kneed in the balls by the dark-eyed girl. He didn't know how the others dealt with that easy takedown but for the Son of Poseidon, he was wincing in deep male empathy.

' _I am never, ever getting on Bianca's bad side,'_ Percy decided. ' _Is she stomping on… oh,_ Gods _.'_

"That was a nice kick," Annabeth complimented. "And I like how thorough you were with the last one."

"Thank you," Bianca demurred, "Your shoulder flip was amazing. Can you show me how to do that?"

"Girls are scary…" Nico mumbled from beside him. He couldn't agree more.

They were intercepted on their way forward by a buff man with pale, grayish skin and a bald head. "Did you kids just take these guys down?"

Annabeth and Bianca exchanged looks. "We didn't want to fight them but they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

The man raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, hey, I'm not trying to accuse you or nothing. It's good to see this scum taken down a notch every now and then. Been harassing the whole neighborhood, they have. Bad for business."

"In fact," the man declared, suddenly struck by inspiration, "You should all get a little treat for your good deed! Come to my shop and I'll give you something for your troubles."

"Thank you, sir, but we really should be going now," Annabeth said warily, "My dad's meeting us and we don't want to be late."

"It won't take long," the man insisted, putting one hand behind Grover's back and another on Nico's shoulder. "Name's Crusty and I got my mattress shop right 'round the corner."

 _'This man doesn't feel right.'_ Percy bristled and pulled the dark-eyed boy out of his reach. Why the hell would he touch Nico like that? _'Pervert. He must be one of those sickos that prey on kids.'_

The Son of Poseidon shot a look at Annabeth that practically screamed his desire to get away.

The blonde sent a frustrated glare back and then cut her stormy grey eyes forward. Dammit, the pervert had a tight grip on Grover.

He was pushing Nico behind him- those wide eyes made him look even younger than he already was- and Annabeth was positioning herself for a possible kneecap attack, when Grover was pushed onto a mattress. Specifically a waterbed that jiggled like a mass of grape jelly as the satyr ungainly sprawled across.

"Crusty's Mattress Emporium!" Crusty announced, his wide grin revealing a row of misshapen, yellow teeth. "Best in the state and at the lowest prices! Who wants to try one next?"

"None of us want- hey!" The man quickly grabbed the Daughter of Athena's arms and pushed her onto a thick leopard print.

"Let me go, you creep!" Bianca was tossed into a princess-themed pink one next.

" _Ergo!_ " With a snap of his fingers, the hulking man caused two sets of rope to fly out of the bed and tie his friend's arms and legs. Then Crusty turned to him but Percy had already uncapped Riptide.

"You're a monster," the dark-haired boy realized, looking on in horror as the ropes started pulling back. "What are you doing to them?"

"Just making them the right size to fit my beds!" Crusty grinned. "So many inconsiderate people come into the shop shorter than six feet tall. So I need the ropes to stretch them out properly. Sometimes it ends up ripping bones and tearing spines but you suffer what you must for good hospitality, right?"

 _'He's standing over them. I need to move him away to attack.'_ His friend's faces were starting to pale. "And what do you do if they're too tall?"

"Easy! I just cut all the extra inches off."

"Crusty? Hospitality?" Behind him, Nico's voice was bemused and he simply knew that the boy's burrow would be furrowed in thought. "No, your name is Procrustes the Stretcher! Theseus killed you on the road to Attica."

The monster frowned. "Bah, Procrustes is too hard for mortals to pronounce! Crusty is much better. You can remember Crusty's Mattress Emporium."

"Nice as that is, we kind of need to get out now," Grover choked out, his face turning blue.

Just as Percy was trying to think of a distraction, Nico's messy hair of head popped out of his side. "Aren't you a Son of Poseidon too?"

_'A Son of Poseidon? Jeez, between the Minotaur, Medusa and now Crusty, I'm starting to think that the real danger is my dad's love life.'_

"Don't connect me to that faithless God!" Procrustes shouted, "I forswore him after he allowed one of my mortal brothers to kill me!"

"Probably because you sucked at the basic concept of _xenia_ ," Nico mused aloud, smirking as he moved several feet to the left of Percy. The older boy made a half-aborted movement to push him back to safety before Nico's eyes looked directly at his.

_'I know what I'm doing. Trust me.'_

The message was quickly followed by his newfound second conscience demanding that he do so.

Procrustes appeared enraged. "How dare you? I am a great host!"

Nico considered it. "Nah, don't think so. Most of your beds are for people who are six feet tall which is uncommon today, much less in ancient times when people were shorter on average. You set those guests up to fail, didn't you?"

"I did not! I would never do that!"

"I bet you even ate the rare few that made the cut."

"Shut your mouth, you filthy demigod," the monster hissed, taking one lumbering step closer.

Nico blinked up at him innocently. "How did it feel to be killed in your own bed?"

That did it. With a roar of rage, Procrustes ran forward with a speed that belied his massive form. He snatched the small boy up by his collar, shoving him up against the wall. The monster's hand clung firmly around the boy's spindly neck. Nico's eyes widened.

Mistaking it for fear, the monster sneered. "What say you now child?"

The dark-eyed boy smiled sweetly. "There's a sword tip sticking out of your belly button."

Procrustes looked down. Percy had moved just as quickly and now Riptide had skewered him. "Nooo!"

With a howl of pain, Procrustes the Stretcher crumbled into golden dust. The older boy then cut his friends out of their traps. The first thing Bianca did once her body was free was run up to her brother and hug him tightly.

"Nico, are you alright? Did that beast hurt you?" The Italian girl demanded, checking him over.

"I'm fine," her brother said brightly, "That was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you're okay little brother," Bianca sniffled, her tone affectionate and almost motherly. A second later and she slapped him over the head. " _Niccolo Marius di Angelo_ , don't ever do that to me again!"

"Your name is Niccolo?" Percy asked.

"Your name is Perseus," Nico reminded him. "I like Nico better, especially because the only person to use my full first name is Bianca. And even she only does it when I'm in trouble."

"Do not ignore me when I'm talking to you Niccolo," Bianca interrupted. She continued scolding her brother for a few more minutes, concluding it with a tight hug and quiet praise for making the monster loose his cool. By then, Annabeth and Grover had found a sheet advertising the address to the DOA Studios.

"A few minutes please," Bianca requested when they were about to leave. She dragged her little brother to the back and when they got out, both di Angelo siblings had suspiciously full pockets that gave off a faint jingling sound.

They followed the directions on the flyer to a plain building with a sign proclaiming ' _No Solicitors, No Loitering, No Living'_. Inside, the walls and carpet were steel grey, the furniture black leather, and the raised dais in the front occupied by a hooded man in a well-fitting suit. There were plenty of ghosts sitting around the room, mostly children that gazed at them listlessly as they walked by.

"Oh, good, even more dead little ones," the man spoke enthusiastically, a British accent present, as he looked us over, "How can I help you then?"

"We would like to go to the Underworld," Annabeth stated. She looked closer at his nametag and added, "Charon, sir."

"Is that so?" The man's eyebrows rose, "Well, that's refreshing. No screaming, no demands, no insisting that there must be a mistake… how did you all die then?"

"Bathtub," Grover bleated.

"Drowning," Annabeth said.

"Lightning," Percy replied.

"Ah, we got hit by lightning in the bathtub and drowned after being electrocuted?" Bianca offered. The man's eyes swiveled to the Italian girl and suddenly he paled drastically. Noticing the interest, Percy tried to discretely push Nico behind him. The younger boy stuck his head out again and the Son of Poseidon realized that Nico wasn't going to be any help when it came to protecting himself.

"Must be one hell of a bathtub," Charon licked his lips, "Alright then. One ride to the Underworld coming up."

"What about them?" The dark-eyed boy asked, pointing to the other ghosts.

"They can't afford the fare," Charon informed him, "It doesn't matter too much if they come in as adults. I can always add the extra fee to their utility bills or charge their credit cards but kids don't have any money of their own. They'll stay here until I decide to give a free ride across."

"And how often does that happen?" Nico demanded.

"Oh, once every decade or so. Can't give too many free rides. Italian suits are expensive, you know."

"That's not right," Nico frowned. "How much does it cost for one trip?"

"One hundred mortal dollars or one golden drachma. No exceptions."

"Bianca?" The dark-eyed boy looked at his sister pleadingly, making her appear unsure.

"Do you accept credit card payments?" Bianca asked, as Nico waved a familiar platinum card around.

"Not those I don't," Charon snorted, "Those Lotus cards may work on mortals but you're not getting any divine goods from them. Hard currency or nothing."

Percy wasn't entirely sure what was happening as the two siblings exchanged looks with one another. Nico appeared to be begging for something and his older sister appeared just as reluctant to give in.

Finally she reached into her pockets and withdrew one golden drachma. Then another and another, until two tall stacks laid on the desk. Counting them, the dark-eyed girl grimaced. "32 coins for 32 people, starting with the children. Deal?"

"Deal!" Charon greedily swiped the shiny golden coins off the desk and led them to the elevator. "Right. Now there's only enough room left in the barrage to take you brats across. I'll do the others on the next run. None of you freeloaders better change my easy listening station or there'll be another thousand years in it for you!"

As they passed the ghosts, they pressed forward against the barrage keeper, whispering words that Percy couldn't hear. Many of them looked at Nico and Bianca gratefully. One soldier in a tattered uniform that looked like it was from the Revolutionary War even tipped his cap forward.

"You did a good thing," he told Bianca, who was looking mournfully at her empty pockets.

"Blame Nico," she replied fondly, "He's always been a bleeding heart."

The elevator doors closed in front of them, cutting off Percy's last view of the ghosts. Then Charon inserted a key into the slot and the elevator plunged downward. They were heading into the Underworld.

x

_On the subject of Annabeth, I'm definitely going to try not to bash her. She's one of my favorite PJO characters and a totally kickass demigod. There will be a little friction at first because she's starting to like Percy too, but the crush is in its early stages, so it will fizzle out soon. My idea of the Nico v. Annabeth rivalry for Percy is encapsulated by whoever wrote this:_

_Annabeth: So you have a crush on Percy too?_

_Nico: …_

_Annabeth: Gods, it's the absolute worst, isn't it?_

_Nico: [nods furiously]_


	5. Where Bianca's Just Extra Weight

One moment Percy was closing his eyes and the next, the closed metal elevator had been replaced by an open wooden barge. He heard an abrupt feminine shriek by his ear and turned to see that Grover had been scared by Charon's appearance. The Son of Poseidon couldn't blame him. The thick, black hood, eerily glowing hellfire eyes and gleaming bleached skull would have frightened anybody.

"Man, I wish _I_ had eyes like that," Nico enthused quietly. "Where are we?"

"The River Styx," Charon told him, "Where the remains of all mortal dreams come to die."

"It looks so polluted," Bianca said. The river water was a smooth, inky black that made it appear as though the raft was slipping through melted glass, the air thick with coils of dirty grey fog. Around them, Percy could see objects float by; a worn teddy bear with one ear chewed off and a bicycle with melted tires. All of it gave off a heavy feeling of sadness and regret.

"Not to mention haunted," Annabeth added, wrapping her arms around herself. They had just left sunny L.A. but it felt so much colder now.

"What did you expect? Mortals have lived and lost for centuries. This river is everything they once were or wanted to be, left forgotten and broken in times that simply passed them by."

"You words are too depressing." The dark-eyed boy slipped his hand from Percy and darted forward, reaching one hand out to the fog. In a second later, he was pulled back to the side of an irritated Son of Poseidon and then promptly hit over the head by his older sister. Charon watched in amusement.

"Not all dreams are cursed but I would be wary of picking up divine toys wherever you may find them," the Gatekeeper advised, his bleached skull splitting in a terrifying grin, "What treasure did you find, little demigod?"

"Nico? Did you grab something?" Percy demanded, anxiety rising. The Italian boy took one look at the irritated older demigod and ducked his head.

"Just this," Nico mumbled. He opened his hands and there was a spherical gold watch in his hand, embossed with the faded picture of a blue bird with a long beak.

"Put that back in the river," Bianca paled, "We don't know where it's from."

"If I may, this artifact is a pocket watch that belonged to a man named Halcyon Green," Charon interjected, "The bird is a kingfisher, fabled to calm the wind and waves during the winter solstice."

"Is there a reason why it was the first thing my brother grabbed?"

"Perhaps? Treasures have a nifty little way of ending up where they need to be."

"Halcyon Green? Should I find him?" Nico asked, "I don't want to steal this if it's important to him."

"Dead men have no need for time," the Gatekeeper chuckled. It was a gravelly, echoing sound that caused Nico to wince. Eyes of hellfire lingered between them and Percy scowled back at the deity. "Keep it, little demigod. I have heard that Poseidon and Zeus need be calmed 'for the Solstice."

' _And I'm the poor sap who has to do it,_ ' Percy thought sourly. ' _Most fathers have the decency to check their kids homework or take them to baseball games. I get neither and on top of that, my deadbeat dad wants me to confront the God of the Dead to end a war that could rip the whole country in two._ '

It was the sort of responsibility that he should at least be in high school to take on.

The Italian boy whose shirt he still had one tight grip on had no such worries. He was looking around with awed eyes, softly breathing out, "It's beautiful here."

Percy wouldn't have necessarily agreed. Then again, he didn't disagree either. The misty river, the dark waters, the glimmering stalactites protruding like monster teeth from the cavernous walls, all did contribute to a haunting sort of beauty. If he looked to the sides, he could find smaller rivers branching off, leading to softly glowing lights that were too far away to discern their destination.

Eventually there is a minor nudge against the raft, briefly making all but Cheron stumble and leading Nico to fall back against Percy's chest. The Son of Poseidon straightened him up before retaking his hand, partially to keep the enthralled boy from running off and partially because the script had flipped. Nico, whose pale skin exuded a comfortable coolness in the surface, had gone the opposite route and become warm and toasty here. The only warm and toasty thing really because Percy's own fingers felt like they were being licked by nips of frostbite.

' _They will come to no harm there.'_

The Nereids words echoed in his ears, even as Percy shook his head to dislodge them. No, it was… it was absurd to think of amicable, kickass Bianca and kind-hearted, lively Nico being children of Hades.

He pushed the thought from his mind immediately as they walked down the narrow path leading to a distant palace of obsidian towers. A sense of alienness filled his mind, as pressure weighed down his limbs and his senses became alert for danger. A Son of Poseidon had no place here. Even Percy, newly introduced to the demigod world could see that. His eyes turned to his friends and saw that Annabeth was shivering too, while Grover, who appeared to handle the atmosphere better, looked apprehensive. Bianca, in turn, had a look of utter fascination on her.

"Is it just me or does the Underworld look like the world's worst airport security lines?"

That stopped Annabeth's shivering quickly. "Dammit, Percy, show some respect!"

"Y-yeah!" Grover squeaked, looking up frightfully, "He didn't mean that, Lord Hades! Your kingdom looks fearsome and grand to me!"

"No." Bianca looked around dubiously. There was a long line of people on an ATTENDANT ON DUTY line waiting for judgement. A shorter, faster line had the words EZ-DEATH on it and seemed to be a one-way path to the Fields of Asphodel. "I'm with Percy. I expected better."

"And it'll let all the jerks of the world get out of their rightful punishment too," Nico fumed, glaring at the EZ-DEATH path. "Wait until I have a word with Ha- Ooh, puppy!"

' _Not in any world,'_ Percy summed up, ' _Would I call that a puppy.'_

They had found Cerberus. A giant rottweiler with three heads crouched down on the floor, ghosts having to squeeze around his girth or under his paws to get through, blocking the pathway forward. One of his heads looked up, sniffing the air shortly, before six beady eyes were focused directly on them. Nico's _puppy_ growled something.

Grover helpfully translated. "We have ten seconds before he kills us."

A second later, the satyr paused and added. "The blonde one, the goat and the boy who smells like water anyway. The other two will be fine."

Annabeth's pale eyebrows rose and a second later, an accusing glare was directed at _Percy_. The Son of Poseidon merely sent a hangdog expression back. ' _Why is it always me?'_

Nico frowned. "Well that's not nice."

He tried to take a step forward and realized that Percy had one hand firmly attached to his and no intentions of letting go. Instead, it was _Bianca's_ turn to do something suicidal.

A perfectly friendly smile pasted on her lips, the Italian girl cooed to the rottweiler. "Aren't you an adorable little puppy. You don't want to hurt our friends, do you?"

The look on Cerberus' faces conveyed that he would not be adverse to that idea, no.

' _I'm surrounded by self-suical morons,'_ Percy briefly mused. ' _Now I know how Annabeth feels.'_

He was about to uncap Riptide and take their chances when Bianca's mouth opened again and a _song_ flowed out. " _Non piangere cagnolino. Vogliamo solo passare attraverso. Noi non ti faremo del male.  
Non che si può, e 'molto più grande di noi, e si dispone di grandi denti troppo."_

Much to everyone's shock, the song seemed to work. Slowly one head and then another had its eyes slowly drip close as Bianca stepped even closer and continued her soft, accented alto. The Italian looked over, a smirk on her face. " _Mio fratello ha una cotta per un ragazzo con gli occhi verdi di mare. Lui non sa come dirlo. La sua cotta non è molto luminoso."_

When the melody was done and Cerberus was fully asleep, Bianca looked back at them, justifiably proud. Annabeth was impressed. Grover was awed. Percy was self-congratulating himself for bringing the di Angelos on their journey. Nico just kicked her.

"Ow! Nico!" Bianca hopped on one foot but it didn't wipe the grin on her face.

"Oh, shut up!" The red-faced boy tossed back as he tightened his grip on Percy's hand and dragged them forward. "Let's just go visit Hades already."

They passed the Asphodel Fields and Elysium. The former was massive, swampy and dismal, even by Underworld standards, with twisted, gnarled black trees and gates of barbed wire. It was populated by people wandering aimlessly, not that they could move much with the crush of bodies around them, with distant eyes, unknowing, unseeing, lifeless and gone. At the very edges of Percy's view were the Fields of Punishment, its rivers of lava gleaming a viridiscient orange-red splash of color in an otherwise dark and dismal field.

The other side of their route held Elysium. It was like any gated community in the upper world except that the houses ranged from medieval castles to Roman villas to Victorian mansions to modern-day skyscrapers. How a skyscraper could exist in a cavern, Percy didn't know, but it extended high up into the air, further than his gaze could follow, into a sky blue ceiling. There were far less people here but they were laughing and enjoying themselves. None of them appeared to notice the scraggly demigods inching past them, though Percy looked hard on each one they passed. If his mother _had_ died, if Aries had lied to him, she would be here. There was no way that Sally Jackson, the kindest woman he'd ever known, would have been sent anywhere else but here.

' _She's not here.'_ A sense of relief filled him when a curly brunette with heterochromatic eyes didn't make herself present. He didn't fool himself into thinking that it meant Aries was correct- his mother could have been inside one of the villas, for all he knew- but it meant there was still a chance.

"Percy, look!" Grover's hushed whisper draws his attention up to where the harpies are flying amidst the obsidian towers of Hades' castle.

"Who's that?" Nico asked, tugging on his hand. Percy's groaned answer of 'my algebra teacher' elicited another amazed look. "Can I go to your school?"

"Probably shouldn't. I got expelled," the demigod answered. "Also, how did you possibly survive for so long with _that_ for a sense of self-preservation?"

"My fault," Bianca was glib. "Keeping him alive is troublesome but he's also the only brother I've got."

"Sound reason- AH!" Grover's words fell into a shriek as the shoes on his feet sprouted wings and began to flap. The satyr fell backwards, banging his head harshly on the floor as the shoes rocked forward and down a side tunnel none had noticed yet.

"Grover!" Overlapping screams of their friend's name was followed by a multitude of feet running over to the curly-haired, horned boy. Percy released Nico's hand, uncapping Riptide and throwing a soft golden glow amidst their procession. Annabeth reached out, as if to grab at Grover's feet but he was moving too fast and too high for her to get a good grip.

"Take them off!" She ordered.

"I- I can't! I'm moving too fast!"

"Wiggle your feet," Nico shouted, as Bianca added, "Hold your hands down!"

They were nearly past the dim tunnel now, the rocky edifice opening up to a huge chasm the size of a city block. Percy didn't have a chance to take a better look as Bianca moved away from their party, running up to a plateaued rock that jutted out almost like a ramp, swiftly crossing on lotus-embossed sneakers and then throwing her body into the air. Nico screamed.

"Got you!" Bianca's triumphant shout came soon after her hands connected to Grover's outstretched ones, the sudden onset of additional weight causing the shoes to veer out of control and plummet downwards. The satyr continued wildly kicking his feet, one sneaker flying off entirely and heading directly into the cavern.

By then the others reached them and Nico threw his body over Grover, who was over Bianca, leading to an annoyed grunt by his sister. Annabeth reached directly for the last shoe, still flapping defiantly despite the impossible weight now, and untied it. Percy stood in front of them, chilled to the bone as familiar, ancient, _dark_ whispers came from the cavern below.

"Tartarus," Nico whispered lowly from behind him.

As the word echoed in the impossibly large cavern, the whispers seemed to grow louder and more agitated. Percy gulped. "We need to go."

"Now," Annabeth agreed, pulling Grover to his feet. "Come on!"

As they ran back out of the tunnel, the chasm seemed to have taken a deep inhale, intending to pull them back. His shoulder blades aching suddenly, as though a heavy weight was now on his back, Percy ran until his ribs ached, until there were stitches at his side and his breath came out in heavy pants. When he saw that they were back on the main pathway, Percy moved closer to his friends, subconsciously noticing that all of the demigods had the same idea. They huddled together, Nico's warm hands clutching his shirt, while Bianca's elbow at his side, Annabeth's elbow in his shoulder and Grover's knee overlapping his.

A deep, shaky breath came out from the dark-eyed Italian demigoddess. "That was… not good."

"No, it wasn't," Annabeth looked troubled. "They told me he was sleeping. He was supposed to be _sleeping_!"

Percy wanted to ask who 'he' was- though the Son of Poseidon thought he knew at this point- when Nico interjected. "What I want to know is why Grover's sneakers turned evil."

"Turned evil?" Grover paled. "No. No, that can't be right."

"They were pulling you into a pit of darkness, bro," Nico said gravely. "Sounds like evil to me."

"The sneakers were from a friend," Annabeth said quietly. "They must have malfunctioned."

"That was an oddly specific malfunction to have," the di Angelo boy noted. He had pulled himself free of the group hug but one hand was still firmly clutching Percy's dirty and torn shirt. "To lead you directly into Tartarus."

"Whatever was inside of Tartarus must have affected it," Annabeth's tone was dangerously cold. "Since the sneakers were _from a friend_."

"Of course," Bianca cut in, voice soothing and steady. "Let us move on. Hades castle is just up ahead."

Percy wouldn't claim to understand the entirety of the undercurrents exchanged here but he wasn't so blind that he didn't notice Bianca moving closer to him and Nico as well. The two di Angelo siblings were spooked. He didn't know why but he had the distinct impression that he had been delegated to the role of protector by them.

The foreign, whispery, feminine voice that had recently taken residence inside his head whispered that this would be an excellent time to bestow a ' _kiss of reassurance'_. Percy balked. Bianca was a nice girl and the voice had been eerily helpful thus far, but whatever deity was taking pity on him was far off the mark here.

Far from Hades' realm, inside her quarters at Olympus, Aphrodite facepalmed.

Looking almost offended, Annabeth turned and marched the rest of the way to Hades' castles. They crossed a garden of glowing pomegranate trees with fruits as plump as his fist and a brilliant ruby red hue. Statues from Medusa's Emporium stood sentinel in a wave of black grass and skeleton soldiers dressed in tattered and bloody uniforms guarded the door. Percy looked at them nervously but they didn't make any motion towards the demigods.

The doors silently swung open. They were about to meet Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

' _And,_ ' the thought inexplicably came to him, ' _The God likely to be Nico's father.'_

x

_Translation: [1] Do not cry, little dog. We just want to go through. We will not hurt you. Not that we can, you are much bigger than us and you have big teeth too._

_[2] My brother has a crush on a boy with sea green eyes. He does not know how to say it. His crush is not very bright._


End file.
